Waves of the Future: A Beginner's Guide to Ham Radio Exploration

Hello QRZ members....I would like your feedback. I have just published a Ham Radio Guide to Beginners called "Waves of the Future: A Beginner's Guide to Ham Radio Exploration".

I would appreciate it if you would take the time to read it and give me your review.

1. Do you think it was written so beginners and prospects to the ham radio hobby could understand and relate?
2. Did it cover most of the topics of ham radio that would cause someone to want to know more about the hobby?
3. What topics or issues were either missing or needed to be expanded on?
4. Would you like to see a follow-up to this e-book?

Thank you for taking the time to check my e-Book out and respond to my questions.

73,
Larry, NA4DX

 

Here is the link to Amazon (Kindle Direct Publishing) so you can purchase the eBook: Amazon.com: Waves of the Future: A Beginner's Guide to Ham Radio Exploration eBook : Scantlan, Larry: Kindle Store

 

I applaud your effort, and hope you are successful. Truth be told, I did not carefully read the entire document but here is my opinion (for what it's worth):

I think you should minimize, if not actually eliminate discussion of the technical aspects of amateur radio. Some of the things you wrote (for example, relating to modulation) are confusing, if not actually incorrect. Or perhaps engage the service of a real expert who can proofread and edit as required. Anyway, I think it is easy to intimidate beginners by getting too far into the technical aspects when the goal is simply to spark their interest.

Tim

 

Tim,

Thank you for your honest and constructive comments. I utilized the power of AI to create much of the content and edited what I felt was needed. Typically, content from historically digitized data from every possible source out there is fairly accurate. Obviously, though, there will be a variety of opinions on some aspects irrespective of accuracy. Most likely I will come back with a revision once I've receive sufficient reviews and comments. I invite you to visit my QRZ profile and the source of my AI platform at https://myflex.ai/scanco. Thanks again, and 73. Larry, NA4DX.

 

Larry--I realized too late that I said something that I did not mean. Namely, I did not mean to imply that you are not a "real expert" when it comes to radio, because clearly you ARE. What I meant (and what I should have said) is that getting another knowledgeable person to critique your writing will be helpful. Which is exactly what you are doing by presenting your ebook here. Anyway, I just wanted to clear that up.

Tim

 

In the section "Chapter 4: Becoming a Licensed Operator", steps 4 and 5 need to be reversed (and possibly renamed accordingly). You gotta' register with the FCC before you can take an exam.
https://www.arrl.org/what-to-bring-to-an-exam-session

 

Leonard, thank you for taking the time to read my eBook and offer your review and suggestion. I will definitely take a look and revise as required. I will be able to update the eBook with a revision. Thanks again. 73, Larry, NA4DX

 

I was going to read your pfd, but saw the post mentioning AI and decided thanks, but no thanks.

You "utilized" the "power" of AI or the "charade" of AI? Reason I ask is because you credited yourself as the "author" in that pdf. There was no credit listed of the AI platform. Depending on how heavily you utilized AI, it's quite possible you authored nothing, but merely edited AI text.

 

While I appreciate your comments and "position", it is not unlike those who have reacted and resisted technological advances throughout time. Many have said the same thing about computers and the digital world as a whole. Traditional farmers have responded similarly to the use of GPS on farm equipment, and yet, as a result yields, quality and efficiencies have improved exponentially. What amount of "AI" usage would be acceptable to you? 50%, 10%, 1%?? It is merely a source of information, a method of composing and a system to access that information in a tremendous time-saving, and cost-cutting, way. By the way, the AI platform used to assist me in authoring this work was RUBI.AI. Thanks for taking the time to respond. 73, Larry, NA4DX

 

My recommendation would be to get a bunch of teenagers who are unfamiliar with amateur radio to read it and give you their opinions.

 

Thank you. A very good suggestion.

 

My suggestion is throw the whole thing out and rewrite it with the human element and write it so it is not so technical or physco babble...kids nowadays want to get on the air and leave the techno babble to our fore fathers...not every ham radio operator wants to be the techno geek...they have enough on their plates. A lot of times when someone is explaining they get so caught up in the techno babble that they lost the person listening, 30 seconds into the techo talk.


My son once told me "dad , why would I want to be in a hobby filled with a bunch of grumpy ole men"...I was speechless and then I really thought about it......you know what he was right.....there are a lot of grumpy ole men , whom want nothing to do with newbies. I do not want to go down that rabbit hole

 

using AI in this instance proved badly since there are many errors already mentioned in this thread...you should have had others read it before you " so called published it" and taking credit for something that was 80% AI generated, I do not doubt your own personal experience in this hobby...your "expertise" was minimal if that and if you had the correct knowledge you would have not had to use AI .

Using it in many form tends to give incorrect info or info that is not true to the truth and often time missing steps or steps are out of order...just my 2 cents

 

Aside from anything else, this is the worst sort of strawmanning and also a great way to deflect the actual point being made.

GPS does not “create” harvestable crops for the farmer.

Neither do automatic transmissions, combines, or, say, the cotton gin.

What AI does is take the words and work of other people via LLMs, run them through its algorithm, and present an of those things, often with subtle (or not so subtle) defects.

examples:

- incorrect capitalization of “Ham Radio”; it’s not a proper noun, nor is it the 18th century.
- inconsistent (incorrect) capitalization of “ham radio”.
- repetition of the phrase “amateur radio, also known as ham radio” and variants.
- an entire section on ‘choosing your license class’, which implies you can take the one you want. No mention that they must be passed sequentially.
- as others have mentioned, the FCC is listed as a last step in getting licensed. It must be a first step before you can take the exam for the FRN.
- the entire “skills and knowledge” section is misordered. Morse code should not be #1. Regulatory compliance, antenna knowledge, for example, should be at the top of the list.
- neither “Maxim” (father or son) were “pioneers of early wireless”, especially in the context of Marconi. (Eg “..pioneers like Marconi and Maxim laid the groundwork for wireless communication. ”)
- there is no mention of “…the ins and outs of ham radio operation” beyond that sentence.
- overall repetitive phrases and paragraphs, particularly the concluding chapter.
- nobody likes the word “enthusiast”; even if they do, it’s overused.
- it doesn’t bring home the “magic of radio”, nor does it make me want to align myself with these enthusiasts.
- it reads as if written by committee (it was!), not a person who loves ham radio and wants others to, too.

 

WOW! Someone was triggered with overwhelming criticism and pent up feelings. I sure hope you let it all out. I wouldn't want to be someone close to you right now. I also find it quite interesting that one, like yourself, who has been a "ham" (notice I did not capitalize it) for only a year, can speak with such knowledge and experience. I guess my 42 years of active ham radio operations will never match up. I'm more than happy to accept constructive criticism but I can tell you that your response is why few want to pursue the hobby.